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Monday, 13 May 2013

Banksy Slave Labour mural up for auction again

A Banksy artwork which had been withdrawn from an
auction in the US has been put up for sale again.

The mural,
called Slave Labour, disappeared from a wall in Wood Green, north London, in
February and appeared in a Miami sale.

But it was
removed from the lot after protests by Haringey Council.

It is now up
for auction in June in Covent Garden by the Sincura Group. A local councillor
and the local Trades Union Congress have attacked the sale.

The mural,
which depicts a boy hunched over a sewing machine making Union Jack bunting,
appeared on the side of a Poundland store last May, just before the Diamond Jubilee
celebrations.

'Cloak of secrecy'

A spokesman for
the auctioneers Sincura said the mural "has been sensitively restored
under a cloak of secrecy", and will go on show alongside pieces by Damien
Hirst, Andy Warhol, Mario Testino and Russell Young.

But Wood Green
councillor Alan Strickland said: "This is a piece of art given to the
community for public enjoyment, and people will find it galling that you can
only view this work at an expensive champagne reception, when it belongs with
the people of north London, not a private owner.

"We saw
the level of public anger last time, as the story went around the world, and I
expect the same this time."

And Keith
Flett, secretary of the Haringey Trades Union Congress, said: "The Slave
Labour Banksy belongs to the people of Haringey not to a wealthy private
client."

When the mural
was up for auction in Miami, it was expected to fetch up to £450,000.

There was
suspicion it had been stolen when it disappeared but the Metropolitan Police
said there were "no reports of any theft".